UCD started off their pre-season campaign with a 2-0 win over Wexford Youths in Ferrycarrig today. It was a remarkable game for new club captain Conor Kenna, who, in the last twenty minutes, missed two penalties, scored another and also netted from the rebound of his third effort to notch his first ever goals for the club, having failed to score in 139 competitive games to date.
It wasn't a full strength team which took the field on the Youths' back pitch - some players, including Ronan Finn, Ian Bermingham, James O'Sullivan and Ger O'Callaghan. The team also included new signing John Reilly, who scored in Belfield Park for Longford in a 2-2 draw in 2006, and trialist Lorcan Keeney, a left back formerly with Hearts and Wolves, and who has played for Ireland at U-19 level.
The game was standard pre-season fare, with both clubs using the opportunity to get the cobwebs out of their collective systems. The bumpy nature of the pitch wasn't helping much either, and there wasn't much in the way of goalmouth action in the first half.
Wexford put out a different team for the second half, and this helped UCD get a better grip on the game, but there was still little threat on either keeper's goal until twenty minutes from time, when UCD were offered what seemed a rather innocuous penalty as Darren Forsyth went up for a header with a Wexford defender. Conor Kenna stepped up, but his kick crashed back off the bar. Remarkably though, as both teams scrambled for possession from the rebound, UCD were awarded another penalty after a rash lunge from a home defender. This time, Kenna made no mistake, tucking into the bottom right hand corner.
Wexford did have the ball in the net five minutes later, but the whistle had already gone and so, despite the Youths' protracted celebrations, the referee was steadfast in awarding a free out.
Five minutes from time, a poor cross into the Wexford box was needlessly handballed, and UCD had a third penalty. Kenna's kick was too near the keeper and at a nice height for him to parry, but Kenna held off teammate Darren Forsyth to pick up the rebound, coolly round the keeper and a defender and slot into an empty net.
Overall, not a lot will have been learned other than that Conor Kenna won't be on spot kick duties this season! Although the Students beat the Youths 4-0 last season in a pre-season in Belfield (also missing a penalty), the Youths provided a much tougher test this time around and a 2-0 victory certainly marks a solid start to the eason for Pete Mahon's charges.
UCD - Gregg (Brennan 88); Mahon, Keeney (Last 80), Kenna, Shortall; McNally, Reilly (T Doyle 47), King, McWalter (Purcell 60), Bolger (Forsyth 60); Byrne.
It wasn't a full strength team which took the field on the Youths' back pitch - some players, including Ronan Finn, Ian Bermingham, James O'Sullivan and Ger O'Callaghan. The team also included new signing John Reilly, who scored in Belfield Park for Longford in a 2-2 draw in 2006, and trialist Lorcan Keeney, a left back formerly with Hearts and Wolves, and who has played for Ireland at U-19 level.
The game was standard pre-season fare, with both clubs using the opportunity to get the cobwebs out of their collective systems. The bumpy nature of the pitch wasn't helping much either, and there wasn't much in the way of goalmouth action in the first half.
Wexford put out a different team for the second half, and this helped UCD get a better grip on the game, but there was still little threat on either keeper's goal until twenty minutes from time, when UCD were offered what seemed a rather innocuous penalty as Darren Forsyth went up for a header with a Wexford defender. Conor Kenna stepped up, but his kick crashed back off the bar. Remarkably though, as both teams scrambled for possession from the rebound, UCD were awarded another penalty after a rash lunge from a home defender. This time, Kenna made no mistake, tucking into the bottom right hand corner.
Wexford did have the ball in the net five minutes later, but the whistle had already gone and so, despite the Youths' protracted celebrations, the referee was steadfast in awarding a free out.
Five minutes from time, a poor cross into the Wexford box was needlessly handballed, and UCD had a third penalty. Kenna's kick was too near the keeper and at a nice height for him to parry, but Kenna held off teammate Darren Forsyth to pick up the rebound, coolly round the keeper and a defender and slot into an empty net.
Overall, not a lot will have been learned other than that Conor Kenna won't be on spot kick duties this season! Although the Students beat the Youths 4-0 last season in a pre-season in Belfield (also missing a penalty), the Youths provided a much tougher test this time around and a 2-0 victory certainly marks a solid start to the eason for Pete Mahon's charges.
UCD - Gregg (Brennan 88); Mahon, Keeney (Last 80), Kenna, Shortall; McNally, Reilly (T Doyle 47), King, McWalter (Purcell 60), Bolger (Forsyth 60); Byrne.
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